As starts go, that was pretty impressive. Richarlison’s two goals, the second of which will remain on World Cup highlight reels for ages, gave Brazil a 2–0 win over Serbia on Thursday, and while there will be sterner tests to come, this was a game that asked Brazil a lot of questions and it answered the vast majority of them. Brazil had not lost its first game at a World Cup since 1934, but, as Argentina and Germany’s defeats had shown, nothing can be taken for granted. At the very least, barring a major shock against Switzerland on Monday, qualification for the last 16 should not really be in doubt.
Brazil arrived at the World Cup widely hailed as the tournament favorite, having lost just one of its previous 29 games—a run in which it had recorded some notable victories and scored liberally. The doubt was threefold: since losing in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup against Belgium, Brazil had played only one European team, a 3–1 win over the Czech Republic in March 2019. Could it cope against the physicality and intensity of the best if Europe?
Secondly, and relatedly, was a defensive midfield featuring two of Casemiro and Lucas Paqueta or even Fred enough to support a bank of three creators—against Serbia, it was Vinicius Junior, Neymar and Raphinha—playing behind Richarlison? And how, temperamentally, would a volatile forward line cope if matches did not run smoothly?
